Here’s why you might find the app useful: if you frequently use other devices such as a PC at work, laptop in class, tablet on the couch, etc., it’s often inconvenient to reach into your pocket to grab your phone or to retrieve it from wherever it might be charging, to view and reply to text messages. Once you’ve installed the Android app, EndlessJabber lets you use the other device you’re already using to view and reply to the text message quickly and easily.

For a couple dollars a month, users can upgrade to the Pro version, which opens up access to some more interesting features.

JabberMode circumvents the deficiencies of the Google Cloud Messaging platform and sleep mode on most phones. As described on the Kickstarter page, “With JabberMode turned on, the phone creates a persistent bi-directional connection with the server that is immune to GCM slowdown due to overload, as well as lag due to phone radio sleep state. Using this connection, messages are sent and receives from the phone to our API’s almost immediately, ensuring that you send and receive text messages as fast as your carrier can deliver them!”

Also available in Pro are a search feature, themes, a scheduler, XMPP integration (such as Pidgin or Trillian), personalized signatures, unlimited retention, and analytics.

The analytics can be accessed from the web app. You can see charts for the number of sent and received messages in the last five days and the number of messages sent and received from the top five contacts. It also provides an aggregate view of sent/received messages by day of week, month of year, and hour of day.

To use EndlessJabber, you have to install the app on your Android phone, follow its quick and easy set-up process, which includes the option to sync your old messages, and go to the web interface to use it from your other device. It’s really quite simple and works well.

EndlessJabber already has over 14,000 users and a Google Play rating of 4.4. It also works on Android KitKat, unlike some other apps.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/endlessjabber-lets-android-users-send-and-receive-texts-remotely-2014-09/feed0Police Sting Op Sends Accidental Texts to Manhttp://www.webpronews.com/police-sting-op-sends-accidental-texts-to-man-2014-04
http://www.webpronews.com/police-sting-op-sends-accidental-texts-to-man-2014-04#commentsTue, 01 Apr 2014 16:11:19 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=341452KSAZ News 10 in Arizona reports that a man found himself in the middle of a scary situation recently when his phone started receiving text messages from an unknown sender.

This wasn’t just some comical incident where someone texts a wrong number, perhaps with a hookup offer or other message that makes for great entertainment fodder on the Internet days later. This string of messages got stranger and stranger.

The man does not want to be identified because he is concerned about the dozens of messages he has gotten. As he read through them, he realized that he was being fed information regarding a police sting operation.

“After a while, I’m reading the texts and it seems these people are stealing a car, they had a site plan, they had a place to meet, a place to go, how fast to go, who’s covering each exit, I didn’t want to reply to that,” he said.

The man began to get worried and eventually called the Glendale, Arizona Police department. They told him they needed to check out what was going on and call him back. Twenty minutes later they called to confirm that he was indeed receiving mass texts that were intended for the members of the task force involved in a sting operation. They apologized, but the texts kept coming for a while.

“Well, they said possible vehicle to be stolen, so I guess it was a sting operation for stolen vehicles or something I don’t know so somehow you ended up on a mass text for an undercover sting operation is that what you’re thinking that’s it,” he said.

As the area media began to investigate the other numbers included in the mass text broadcast, they determined that the operation was not an actual sting, but rather a practice operation in place for training purposes. The police assured them that they would not use text messages in an actual sting, and that in this case the unnamed man’s phone number had been accidentally entered in their mass text broadcast.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/police-sting-op-sends-accidental-texts-to-man-2014-04/feed0Messaging Revenue Down as Messaging Apps Take Offhttp://www.webpronews.com/messaging-revenue-down-as-messaging-apps-take-off-2014-01
http://www.webpronews.com/messaging-revenue-down-as-messaging-apps-take-off-2014-01#commentsTue, 14 Jan 2014 14:24:30 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=306839As popular social networking sites such as Facebook become populated with, well, everyone, teens are now escaping to the relative privacy that messaging apps provide. WhatsApp and SnapChat are now two of the most popular mobile apps, and it seems this trend is affecting more than just Facebook and social media.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics this week pointed out that messaging revenue for mobile providers may have peaked in 2012. The firm estimates that global mobile operator revenue from SMS and MMS declined in 2013, down nearly 4% from last year to around $104 billion. The firm’s report predicts that this trend will continue, with operator revenues from messaging falling 20% by the year 2017.

“The fast rising popularity of smartphone messaging applications, both from smartphone vendors Blackberry and Apple, and independent messaging applications like WhatsApp, Line Messenger and WeChat, is significantly hurting both operator messaging volumes and revenue,” said Nitesh Patel, director for Wireless Media Strategies at Strategy Analytics. “While SMS volumes remained flat in 2013, operator revenue from messaging declined by almost 4 percent”

In addition to the popularity of messaging apps that use data rather than operator messaging services, messaging revenue is likely be affected by the increased saturation of established markets. The U.S. mobile market in particular is quickly running out of potential new subscribers, which could potentially lead to stagnating messaging volumes. Strategy Analytics predicts that SMS volumes alone will fall 3% by the year 2017.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/messaging-revenue-down-as-messaging-apps-take-off-2014-01/feed0Law Enforcement Now Wants Wireless Carriers To Store Your Text Messages As Evidencehttp://www.webpronews.com/law-enforcement-now-wants-wireless-carriers-to-store-your-text-messages-for-evidence-2012-12
http://www.webpronews.com/law-enforcement-now-wants-wireless-carriers-to-store-your-text-messages-for-evidence-2012-12#commentsMon, 03 Dec 2012 21:36:48 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=205249Last week, the ECPA amendment that would greatly enhance Americans’ privacy has passed its first hurdle in the Senate. Now the bill will head for a proper vote in the Senate and House next year. If passed in its current state, the bill will force law enforcement to obtain a warrant when snooping through your email. Law enforcement groups wont give up without a fight though, and are even adding other communication methods to the negotiation table.

CNET reports that law enforcement groups have submitted a proposal to the US Senate asking them to pass a law that would require wireless carriers to Americans’ text messages for two years. The groups argue that text messages, much like email, are increasingly required in criminal investigations.

What information would be stored under the proposed law? It’s not exactly clear at the moment, but it could go in two directions. Either law enforcement wants access to all of your texts including what you said in them, or they just want the metadata that includes the sender and recipients of the text. My guess is on the former considering law enforcement’s push to have nearly limitless access to Americans’ emails.

While it sounds like a flagrant abuse of power and an imminent invasion of privacy, the law enforcement groups do have one point that should be considered. There needs to be a standard on if and how wireless carriers store text messages. Among companies, there’s no consensus on how long this data must be stored as some companies keep records for years while others keep no records at all.

It should be noted that this is just a proposal for now. There’s no telling if the Senate will take it up as an added amendment to the ECPA early next year, but chances are pretty good. Law enforcement really wants the warrant requirement to die, but it may not get that. Setting a standard for how long wireless carriers must hold onto text messages would be a nice consolation prize.

ECPA is going to be a hot ticket item as the 113th Congress begins early next year. There are going to be a lot more amendments proposed from both sides of the aisle, and it has the potential to get really messy.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/law-enforcement-now-wants-wireless-carriers-to-store-your-text-messages-for-evidence-2012-12/feed1New Android Malware Steals Your Money Via SMShttp://www.webpronews.com/new-android-malware-steals-your-money-via-sms-2012-08
http://www.webpronews.com/new-android-malware-steals-your-money-via-sms-2012-08#commentsMon, 20 Aug 2012 18:50:46 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=187855]]>Android is an incredibly open system. For the most part, that’s a very good thing. Sometimes, however, it can be a very bad thing. For instance, malware is easier to spread across Android devices due to its open nature. Unfortunately, a new and powerful piece of malware is making its way around the Android ecosystem.

TrustGo Security recently stumbled upon a new piece of malware that can take control of your phone to make unauthorized payments, steal bank card numbers and more. They call it Trojan!SMSZombie.A and it’s a doozy. The good news is that it’s currently only infecting users in China, but the bad news is that it could make it’s way over here at any time.

The team at TrustGo has found the malware to be hosted on various apps at GFan, China’s largest mobile app marketplace. The nasty piece of software can be found hiding in provocative wallpaper apps. It’s an easy sell since nothing attracts downloads like pictures of models and their ilk.

What’s worse is that the malware in question refuses to say no. Upon installing, the app will ask for various permissions. You can hit cancel but it will just reload the permissions page once again. In other words, it forces users to accept the terms of their infection.

After it’s been installed, the malware will intercept and forward SMS messages on your behalf. This is a much bigger deal in China as users send money via SMS. It’s still something to be wary of even here in the U.S. as SMS often contains private info that third parties should not have access to.

For now, the malware can only be manually removed. Fortunately, the guys at TrustGo have a handy guide that will show you how to remove it. They’re also working on an automatic removal process for the next update to their app.

Once again, this virus is currently only ravaging Chinese Android phones, but that doesn’t mean people in other countries are immune. It could just as easily find its way into the many third-party app stores out there. That’s why it’s recommended to only download apps from Google Play. Google has software that scans apps throughout Google Play to make sure they’re virus free.

If all else fails, only download apps from developers you can trust. I know it’s hard to resist the provocative wallpaper app, but there are plenty of those from trusted developers.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/new-android-malware-steals-your-money-via-sms-2012-08/feed2Worldwide Mobile Payments to Hit $171 Billion in 2012http://www.webpronews.com/worldwide-mobile-payments-to-hit-171-billion-in-2012-2012-05
http://www.webpronews.com/worldwide-mobile-payments-to-hit-171-billion-in-2012-2012-05#commentsTue, 29 May 2012 15:36:35 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=162567The IT analysts at Gartner, Inc. have announced that worldwide mobile payment transaction values will reach $171.5 billion this year. That is a 61.9% increase over 2011. The number of mobile payment users will also significantly increase this year, hitting at least 212 million users.

“We expect global mobile transaction volume and value to average 42 percent annual growth between 2011 and 2016, and we are forecasting a market worth $617 billion with 448 million users by 2016,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. “This will bring opportunities for service and solution providers who will need to cater to the local demand patterns to customize their offerings.”

Gartner said the mobile payments market would remain “fragmented” for at least the next two years, with local markets using a variety of technology and business models. In addition, different regulations around the world will prevent consolidation of the market.

“There will be a few global players that have the scale and resources to serve large customers and the mass market whose requirements can be readily satisfied by standard solutions,” Shen said. “However, there will always be segments that cannot be sufficiently served by the global players. The demand of these segments can only be satisfied by specialized or local players who can better understand the segment and have specific solutions to meet the unique challenges.”

Though NFC technologies are beginning to proliferate into the smartphone market, Gartner predicts that mobile payments using the technology will remain low until 2015. In the meantime, SMS will remain the dominant technology in developing mobile markets and Web/WAP will continue to be highly used in North America and Europe.

“NFC payment involves a change in user behavior and requires collaboration among stakeholders that includes banks, mobile carriers, card networks and merchants,” said Shen. “It takes time for both to happen, so we don’t expect NFC payments to come into the mass market before 2015. In the meantime, ticketing, rather than retail payment, will drive NFC transactions.”

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/worldwide-mobile-payments-to-hit-171-billion-in-2012-2012-05/feed0Apple Patents Mass-Texting New Contact Infohttp://www.webpronews.com/apple-patents-mass-texting-new-contact-info-2012-05
http://www.webpronews.com/apple-patents-mass-texting-new-contact-info-2012-05#commentsWed, 02 May 2012 21:29:18 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=149690Everybody knows what a pain it can be to change your phone number. Not only do you have to memorize your new number (a step some people never bother to take), you have to update your contact info all over the place, and you have to let all your friends know that your old number doesn’t work anymore. If you’re the kind of person with an address book full of people who need your digits, getting them all your new contact info can be a pain. Sure you can post it on Facebook or Twitter, but what if you don’t want all your Facebook friends or Twitter followers to have your number?

With current technology, you have to either send out a massive email, or bombard everyone you know with texts. Now, thanks to group texting, that last one isn’t too terribly difficult, but it is still a bit time consuming. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to just have your new contact info go out to everybody in your address book?

If you think so, then you may be in luck. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has just granted Apple a patent for that very technology. The patent deals with a smartphone feature that will automatically detect when your phone’s number changes and send out a mass text to the people in your address book, letting them know your new contact info.

Of course, you may not want to text everybody in your address book about your new number (for example: my local Pizza Hut has no need to know the best way to get ahold of me). The patent doesn’t mention any customization options with this feature, but it’s highly unlikely that Apple wouldn’t include the ability to select who gets your new info.

Unfortunately, this is only a patent, so there’s no real clue as to when we might actually see this sort of feature coming to the iPhone. On the other hand, it seems like a fairly straightforward software issue, so there is likely no reason it couldn’t be incorporated as soon as iOS 6, which should be coming out this autumn with the next iPhone.

What do you think? Would you like to see a feature like this come to the iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/apple-patents-mass-texting-new-contact-info-2012-05/feed1Twitter SMS: Satellite Support Addedhttp://www.webpronews.com/twitter-sms-satellite-2012-02
http://www.webpronews.com/twitter-sms-satellite-2012-02#commentsThu, 09 Feb 2012 22:15:09 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=97414Twitter announced today that it has partnered with Iridium and Thuraya, the two largest satellite operators, so that subscribers of these services have access to Twitter SMS.

“Now, even if phone lines and the Internet are inaccessible — for example, in a war zone or after a natural disaster — people will be able to share news and stay informed via Twitter,” the company says on its blog.

“We work with as many carriers as we can to support SMS around the world,” Twitter says. “If your carrier does not currently support Twitter SMS, you can still Tweet. Just use one of our long codes.”

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/twitter-sms-satellite-2012-02/feed1iPhone App That Could Save Careershttp://www.webpronews.com/dream-iphone-app-2012-01
http://www.webpronews.com/dream-iphone-app-2012-01#commentsFri, 27 Jan 2012 17:35:14 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=92949There is no shortage of apps and add-ons to iPhones that are huge helps to people.

Within apps alone, you can do your banking, queue up (or watch) Netflix choices, edit HD photos, learn to play guitar, or buy anything on Amazon and track the UPS shipment.

With some simple accessories that plug in to the iPhone, you can record in stereo, take telephoto lens pictures, and swipe credit cards.

So, why hasn’t some enterprising developer come up with this career-saving add-on yet? I’m sure there are lots of young, upwardly-mobile professionals who would appreciate someone, or something, having their back on a Saturday night. For company-issued phones, it should be installed by IT before ever being put into anyone’s hands.

In fact, if RIM makes it to this first, it might just be the biggest comeback story of the year.

]]>http://www.webpronews.com/dream-iphone-app-2012-01/feed0Free Text Messaging App From Yahoo: Hubhttp://www.webpronews.com/free-text-messaging-app-2011-12
http://www.webpronews.com/free-text-messaging-app-2011-12#commentsFri, 02 Dec 2011 21:52:01 +0000http://www.webpronews.com/?p=82467Were you just thinking to yourself: “I wish there were an easier way to have conversations from my phone?” If so, Yahoo claims to have the solution with its mobile app Hub, which comes with the tagline: “conversations made easy”.

In this announcement for the app on the Yahoo Mail blog, there is only mention of an Android version, and no mention of an iPhone version, though an iPhone is shown in the image provided (above) – I guess to just show that iPhone users can still get text messages from it.

“For those heavy texters out there, we are excited to introduce Hub, a fast and easy-to-use mobile messaging app that allows you to send text messages and have group conversations for free,” says the Yahoo Mail team. “Hub allows you to easily add participants to any conversation thread so it’s easy to switch from private messaging to a group conversation. Whether it is just keeping up with a close group of friends or making spontaneous plans, you no longer have to deal with scattered messages.”

“What’s more, Hub allows you to send messages to anyone without incurring any text messaging fees,” the company adds. “Yes, you heard us right. There are no text messaging fees – messages are sent over WIFI or using your data connection – and Hub is device agnostic, which means you can communicate with anyone on any mobile device as long as you have their mobile phone numbers. Your friends are not required to download the app in order to reply to your messages although they are strongly encouraged to do so in order to enjoy the full feature set!”

This isn’t the first app to to offer free text messaging, but the Yahoo brand probably won’t hurt in it getting some downloads. It has group messaging, and support for local and international SMS messages.

Tabbed IMs – With tabbed IMs, all of your IMs are in one window and you can easily tab back and forth between conversations.

Improved Spam Management – You can now easily ignore multiple spam add requests with one easy click.
New Social Games – We’ve added some popular new games to Messenger 11.5 including Backyard Monsters, Township and ourWorld—and have made it easier to get your friends involved in sharing your game activities.

Smart Archiving — Conversations are easily archived by friends with the most recent conversation showing up first. These conversations can be accessed from any PC or web browser where you’ve signed into Y! Messenger.